


girls' night

by panlesters



Series: i don't know why (deleted scenes) [6]
Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, dan/pj bonding times, painting nails
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-26
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:22:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,341
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28345329
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/panlesters/pseuds/panlesters
Summary: dan really isn't looking forward to his quiet night in alone, and pj is more than welcome when he turns up on the doorstep hoping for phil
Relationships: Dan Howell/Phil Lester
Series: i don't know why (deleted scenes) [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1719151
Comments: 12
Kudos: 37





	girls' night

**Author's Note:**

> i'm back! i really can't stay away from idk verse too long, so have this! nail painting has been on my list of things to write for a while, and i finally settled on this  
> i saw that this series got nominated for best series this year, and i also wanna say a massive thank you to anyone who nominated it!! it means the world to me that it got thought of even all these months later<3  
> enjoy!

Dan’s not a big fan of these nights on his own. The house feels entirely too big without Phil, and it’s almost as if there’s even more nooks and crannies for non-existent demons to be hiding in. The shadows feel taller and the sounds feel louder, and Dan sits in front of the TV, curled up under a blanket watching Pointless re-runs. He thinks that maybe if he concentrates hard enough on the questions, he can forget about what could be lurking outside the living room.

It’s his own fault he’s not with Phil right now. Kath was all for him coming home for the weekend with Phil, but then he had to go and let slip that he had an early Monday morning seminar, and she’d insisted it was more important. He doesn’t think there’s anything more important than sitting round a table with Phil and his family, forgetting about unread cases and unanswered questions. But here he is, trying to forget about those same things and a myriad of other things. It’s far from what he had in mind, but he supposes he’ll deal with it.

The knock on the door makes him jump out of his skin, and he sits completely still for a good minute before he hears another knock and decides it’s best to just answer. Taking a deep breath, he walks to the door and quickly takes note of the shoes and the small table that he could use to clobber the person round the head if he needs.

One more deep breath, and he opens the door.

“Oh. Hey, Dan.”

PJ stands, looking cold and tired and dejected, and like he needs a hug.

“Peej,” Dan breathes, “You okay?”

“Uh.” He huffs a laugh. “Not really.”

“Oh.” Dan stares at the door handle for a second before he remembers his manners. “Oh, you wanna come in?”

The smile he gets from PJ is grateful and he steps inside, toeing off his shoes and wrapping his arms around himself.

“No Phil?” he asks hopefully. Dan gives him a sad smile.

“Nope,” he replies. “He’s gone home for the weekend.”

“Shit, I knew I should have texted first,” PJ says, running a hand through his hair, “I’m sorry, Dan, I’ll just go.” He turns, and Dan reaches out for his hand.

“Wait!” he says, lightly taking PJ’s wrist and waiting until he turns back. “You know you’re literally welcome here any time, right?”

“Yeah, but-”

“C’mon, I’ll make you a hot chocolate,” he says with a gentle smile, letting go of PJ’s wrist and holding out his arm to direct PJ to the kitchen. “It’s no mama Kath style,” he says as they walk, “But I’m definitely getting there.”

PJ smiles.

“Any hot chocolate is welcome.” He lifts himself on to one of the stools by the breakfast bar and curls in on himself. “Thanks, Dan. Really.”

“Any time, Peej, you know that.” He busies himself with getting out some milk and boiling the kettle. “You wanna talk about what’s up?”

PJ sighs heavily, and Dan softens. They’ve never really talked about problems before, and he can feel a weight between them in the air. But this is Phil’s best friend, and he’s become one of Dan’s too as the year’s gone on. He’ll see to it that Peej is well taken care of.

“I don’t even know if I can explain it,” he says glumly. “I just felt like shit, and I couldn’t get any work done, and everyone else went out for drinks so I was on my own, and then I went out for a walk to clear my head and ended up… here.”

“Well, I’m happy to offer company,” Dan says, handing him a hot chocolate and leading him back into the living room. “I know the shit feeling for sure, and it’s better to be here than on your own. If you wanna stay the night, my room’s always free.”

PJ gives him a sincere smile.

“That’s really kind of you,” he says quietly. “Thanks.” He looks down at his hands for quietly. “Dan?”

“Yeah?”

“Could you paint my nails?”

Dan looks up with a grin.

“I can,” he says, “But I can’t guarantee it’ll look good.” He holds up his own hand, covered in messy black nail polish, and PJ laughs.

“I’ll take my chances, mate.”

“Any colour preference?” Dan asks as he gets up.

“Something bright. Surprise me.”

Dan comes back with hot pink nail polish, and PJ laughs.

“Perfect.”

They sit cross legged opposite each other on the sofa, with more quiz shows running in the background. PJ puts a hand on Dan’s knee, and Dan’s extra careful to get his nails right. It’s still messy, but it’s a lot better than his own.

“Do you ever let Phil paint your nails?” PJ asks. Dan snorts.

“God no.” They look at each other and laugh. “Can you imagine? I think I’d rather just dunk my whole finger into a vat of the stuff, it’d come out looking the same. I paint his, though.”

“Yeah?”

“He likes yellow.”

“Yellow’s pretty,” PJ says.

“It is.”

PJ looks up from his hand when he hears the Weakest Link music play from the TV.

“You know, Phil talked about applying for that.”

“The Weakest Link?” Dan snorts. “Anne would eat him alive.”

“He said he wanted to put himself out there more, be more confident, all that shit.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen Anne Robinson make someone more confident,” Dan says. “Also, like. His general knowledge? Shit.”

PJ laughs then.

“You know, I think he has a fair few random bits up there in his brain,” PJ says. “He’s like a sponge, but only with useless information. He’s like a… selective sponge.”

Dan rolls his eyes, grinning.

“Maybe it’d be fun to watch Anne roast him,” he says. “Maybe he’d be able to give her a run for her money.”

“You think he has any comeback with any weight to it?”

“Well, no,” Dan laughs, “But maybe he could confuse her out of being mean.”

“Yeah, I’ll give him that,” PJ says. “Who the fuck even knows what goes on in that head?”

Dan smiles fondly, and looks down at his handiwork.

“Done!” he smiles, letting PJ move his hand away. He admires it for a second before giving Dan the other hand, and they fall silent for a little while. Dan’s tongue pokes out his teeth as he works, and he frowns when he looks up at PJ watching him.

“What?”

“Nothing,” PJ says with a giggle. “Just. Phil does that.”

“Does what?”

“That tongue thing.” He sticks his tongue out between his teeth and closes his eyes in a mock grin.

“Yeah, and?”

“You were just doing it.”

“Was not!”

PJ laughs.

“You absolutely were,” he says, shaking his head. “It’s cute, picking up his little mannerisms. You spend too much time together.”

“Yeah, well.” Dan shrugs sheepishly. “Maybe I like him or something.”

PJ shakes his head.

“Hey, can I tell you something?”

“Yeah, of course.”

“I met a girl.”

“Oh yeah?” Dan grins up at him. “What’s she like, what’s her name?”

“Her name’s Sophie, and she’s cute as fuck.”

“Yeah?”

“She’s really funny, and nice, and sweet, and,” he takes a breath, “Dan I think I’m gonna ask her out.”

“That’s great, Peej,” he says softly. “It sounds like you might be a bit smitten.”

“You know, I think I might be.”

“Are you sure it’s okay if I stay?” PJ asks as they plod up the stairs.

“Yeah, of course it is,” Dan says, brushing him off. “We never use my room anyway, have it.”

“Thanks, Dan. Really.”

“Hey,” Dan says, turning around to look him in the eye. “It’s honestly fine, yeah? You’re not a bother, you’re welcome here as long as you need.” He opens his arms and envelopes PJ in a hug.

“Go get some sleep, yeah? Hopefully you’ll feel better in the morning.”

“Yeah,” PJ breathes. “Thanks. Night, Dan.”

“Night Peej.”

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading! comments are appreciated, come scream at me on tumblr @ panlesters


End file.
